Dumb southerners...........got to move the Trump star to the confederate monument.......maybe Trump has something good to say about someone, but when you think like a fifth grader.......grab them by the crouch.......

Here's hoping that Florida Votes Blue and they can finally wipe away the snickering about it being an 'armpit' and 'shithole' state.

GOP Candidate Wrote a Book Arguing the Founding Fathers Were Right Not to Abolish Slavery

Ron DeSantis can't run from his racial rhetoric.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), the GOP's nominee for governor of Florida, has found himself in yet another controversy over racist rhetoric.

American Ledger, a project of the super PAC American Bridge, has unearthed a series of toxic arguments put forward by DeSantis in his 2011 book, "Dreams from Out Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama," which he wrote while first running for Congress to bolster his credentials against President Barack Obama.

One of the most disturbing claims he made in the book was that Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, was wrong to suggest the founding fathers' failure to abolish slavery in the Constitution was a fundamental flaw.

"For someone like Marshall, this failure overshadows the numerous and long-lasting political achievements embodied in the structural foundations of the government that have nothing to do with the institution of slavery," DeSantis said. But in fact, he went on, the "philosophical foundations of the Constitution are incompatible with slavery," and bargains like the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved persons as 3/5ths of a free citizen, actually "benefitted anti-slavery states."

If DeSantis had simply left it at the fact that tolerating slavery was essential to get the Southern states on board, he might have had a point. But for him to claim the Constitution somehow preordained the end of slavery as written is pure whitewashing, given that it took a bloody civil war to amend it to do so. Furthermore, his claim that allowing slaveowners to get extra congressional apportionment for each enslaved person they owned was somehow a gift to "anti-slavery states" simply defies logic. Not to mention, it is highly offensive for DeSantis to condescendingly say all this as proof that Thurgood Marshall — one of our nation's great constitutional thinkers, and himself a descendant of slaves — didn't know what he was talking about.

For good measure, DeSantis also claimed in his book that Obama was not truly a Christian, but became one out of convenience because "irreligion would be an impediment to forging political relationships."

A hurricane alarmingly late in the year is disrupting Florida’s midterm elections

The Panhandle is bracing itself.

Hurricane Michael is set to disrupt elections in Florida, a state where environmental crises have dominated on the campaign trail.

The state’s panhandle is bracing itself as the storm prepares to lash Northwest Florida, throwing a wrench not only into midterm elections but also possibly exacerbating an ongoing algae crisis and marking a harrowing new trend as hurricanes arrive later in the year.

Expected to arrive at Florida’s shores on Wednesday, Michael was growing in strength as of Tuesday afternoon. Currently a Category 2 hurricane, it could make landfall as a Category 3. The Florida panhandle is home to the state’s capital, Tallahassee, which could be right in the line of fire if the storm’s current direction continues.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) has declared a state of emergency in 35 Florida counties, calling the storm “life-threatening and extremely dangerous.” Officials warned the storm could be unlike any seen in decades. Michael will be the first hurricane to hit the area since Hurricane Hermine in 2016.

Telstar wrote:A hurricane alarmingly late in the year is disrupting Florida’s midterm elections

The Panhandle is bracing itself.

Hurricane Michael is set to disrupt elections in Florida, a state where environmental crises have dominated on the campaign trail.

The state’s panhandle is bracing itself as the storm prepares to lash Northwest Florida, throwing a wrench not only into midterm elections but also possibly exacerbating an ongoing algae crisis and marking a harrowing new trend as hurricanes arrive later in the year.

Expected to arrive at Florida’s shores on Wednesday, Michael was growing in strength as of Tuesday afternoon. Currently a Category 2 hurricane, it could make landfall as a Category 3. The Florida panhandle is home to the state’s capital, Tallahassee, which could be right in the line of fire if the storm’s current direction continues.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) has declared a state of emergency in 35 Florida counties, calling the storm “life-threatening and extremely dangerous.” Officials warned the storm could be unlike any seen in decades. Michael will be the first hurricane to hit the area since Hurricane Hermine in 2016.

With the uphill battle the Dems face in the realm of election politics, gerrymandering and extreme efforts at voter suppression I am finding some glee in noting that the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael hit a particularly Red part of Florida. I'm hoping this will reduce the effect of the usual voters in this area and help Gillum and Nelson win. If it takes intervention by Mother-Nature well, that's fine with me.

Let's see how well the Florida Republicans can marshal resources to get polling places up and running. It might be a study in how government Can work if they want it to. Given they make a huge effort along these lines it won't change the reality that people are just too spread out and occupied with surviving to vote. I'm hoping.

othershoe1030 wrote:With the uphill battle the Dems face in the realm of election politics, gerrymandering and extreme efforts at voter suppression I am finding some glee in noting that the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael hit a particularly Red part of Florida.

Othershoe, I'm very frankly surprised and appalled to read this coming from you.

othershoe1030 wrote:With the uphill battle the Dems face in the realm of election politics, gerrymandering and extreme efforts at voter suppression I am finding some glee in noting that the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael hit a particularly Red part of Florida.

Othershoe, I'm very frankly surprised and appalled to read this coming from you.

I was speaking purely from a political impact perspective. Certainly the devastation is awful, lives and homes changed forever. I went through Ivan in the Pensacola area so I know about hurricanes. It was a political observation of the effects we might expect as the result of the storm.

Frankly, you don't think the Republicans would harbor similar delight if the blue part of the state had been hit? Seriously? Sorry to have offended you though, really.

othershoe1030 wrote:With the uphill battle the Dems face in the realm of election politics, gerrymandering and extreme efforts at voter suppression I am finding some glee in noting that the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael hit a particularly Red part of Florida.

Othershoe, I'm very frankly surprised and appalled to read this coming from you.

I was speaking purely from a political impact perspective. Certainly the devastation is awful, lives and homes changed forever. I went through Ivan in the Pensacola area so I know about hurricanes. It was a political observation of the effects we might expect as the result of the st

Frankly, you don't think the Republicans would harbor similar delight if the blue part of the state had been hit? Seriously? Sorry to have offended you though, really.

_____________________

If the blue part of the state were hit there wouldn't be a voting booth open there until February. Our state legislature would see to that. What worries me is that I believe Scott will declare that the election cannot be certified even after election day (especially if he loses the Senate seat) because the good people of Panama City and Mexico Beach have to be given another month or two to get to the polls. Then when they finally do vote, miraculously, the results willl suddenly flip the election to the Republicans. Whether the numbers are there or not. He has the opportunity. A guy who will steal from Medicaid will do anything to become a Senator.

othershoe1030 wrote:I was speaking purely from a political impact perspective. Certainly the devastation is awful, lives and homes changed forever. I went through Ivan in the Pensacola area so I know about hurricanes. It was a political observation of the effects we might expect as the result of the storm.

Frankly, you don't think the Republicans would harbor similar delight if the blue part of the state had been hit? Seriously? Sorry to have offended you though, really.

I don't know what your experience with Ivan consisted of, but mine was a long and extremely stressful nightmare, including a nine-month-long displacement from our home while a complete gut and renovation were effected along with structural repairs. Add in major stress and frustration from a lengthy and difficult evacuation and relocation, lots of heavy labor day after day carrying ruined materials to curbside (resulting in a severely herniated disc for my husband), a constant, persistent effort to keep contractors honest and working, and a seemingly endless battle with the insurance company that finally brought us some funds four months after the storm trashed our home.

So maybe you'll understand that I wouldn't wish all that on my worst enemy, and most certainly not on my fellow Floridians, even red ones.

Sure, there are doubtless some bitter, nasty Republicans who'd be "delighted" in a hurricane's slamming into Miami and environs, but that doesn't mean I'd like to see that mean-spirited thinking among fellow liberals. It diminishes us all.

I'm just really surprised that you'd harbor such thoughts, and honestly find it hard to buy the "purely political impact perspective" thing. Devastation is devastation is devastation, and that you're clearly "delighted" it occurred is just plain mind-blowing. People died, for Pete's sake.

But you certainly don't need to worry about my being offended. I just think we all need to ask ourselves whether we're allowing the Trump venom to poison our hearts -- clearly handing a stupendous win to him and his ever-loving base.

OK, off the pulpit and shutting up now, though still feeling a little shaken. I'll get over it. Ha.

othershoe1030 wrote:With the uphill battle the Dems face in the realm of election politics, gerrymandering and extreme efforts at voter suppression I am finding some glee in noting that the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael hit a particularly Red part of Florida.

Othershoe, I'm very frankly surprised and appalled to read this coming from you.

I was speaking purely from a political impact perspective. Certainly the devastation is awful, lives and homes changed forever. I went through Ivan in the Pensacola area so I know about hurricanes. It was a political observation of the effects we might expect as the result of the st

Frankly, you don't think the Republicans would harbor similar delight if the blue part of the state had been hit? Seriously? Sorry to have offended you though, really.

_____________________

If the blue part of the state were hit there wouldn't be a voting booth open there until February. Our state legislature would see to that. What worries me is that I believe Scott will declare that the election cannot be certified even after election day (especially if he loses the Senate seat) because the good people of Panama City and Mexico Beach have to be given another month or two to get to the polls. Then when they finally do vote, miraculously, the results willl suddenly flip the election to the Republicans. Whether the numbers are there or not. He has the opportunity. A guy who will steal from Medicaid will do anything to become a Senator.

I agree completely. If the hurricane hat hit Miami it would have been Puerto Rico all over again. Somehow, let's watch and see, the GOP will try to play this to their advantage one way or another. They will never let any possible advantage go untapped.

I do not think for one minute that the importance of this election has been exaggerated; it is huge. The anti-45 groups have to ban together. The Des Moines Register, a very conservative paper has come out in favor of voting out all of their Republican members of Congress who are up for re-election this year. They cited the failure of Congress to serve as a check to the Executive Branch, failure to control spending and exhibit fiscal responsibility, failure to repeal the ACA and replace it with something better, failure to come to agreement on immigration reform and on and on. It was quite a nice laundry list of Congress' failures.

Not only has the party failed to act as a check on the president, key Republicans have been complicit in trying to obstruct and undermine the investigation of a foreign power’s interference in a U.S. election. And by their silence they have tacitly endorsed the president’s racism, misogyny, white nationalism, divisiveness and crudity.

In becoming the party of Trump, the Republicans have forsaken traditional conservatism and given voters no rational alternative to the Democrats. The party needs to be voted out of power and spend a few years becoming again the party of Lincoln, not the party of Trump.

But the stakes are too high this year to worry about whether some candidates have sufficiently detailed agendas or know enough about how some parts of the government work. Nothing short of a change in party leadership in Congress will move this country forward. That’s why we’re recommending that Iowa voters send home Reps. Rod Blum, David Young and Steve King and return Rep. Dave Loebsack to the House.

I do not think for one minute that the importance of this election has been exaggerated; it is huge. The anti-45 groups have to ban together. The Des Moines Register, a very conservative paper has come out in favor of voting out all of their Republican members of Congress who are up for re-election this year. They cited the failure of Congress to serve as a check to the Executive Branch, failure to control spending and exhibit fiscal responsibility, failure to repeal the ACA and replace it with something better, failure to come to agreement on immigration reform and on and on. It was quite a nice laundry list of Congress' failures.

The Des Moines Register. Hmm, I bet Damaged Eagle and his ever loving sister are having a shit fit over that one.

I do not think for one minute that the importance of this election has been exaggerated; it is huge. The anti-45 groups have to ban together. The Des Moines Register, a very conservative paper has come out in favor of voting out all of their Republican members of Congress who are up for re-election this year. They cited the failure of Congress to serve as a check to the Executive Branch, failure to control spending and exhibit fiscal responsibility, failure to repeal the ACA and replace it with something better, failure to come to agreement on immigration reform and on and on. It was quite a nice laundry list of Congress' failures.

The Des Moines Register. Hmm, I bet Damaged Eagle and his ever loving sister are having a shit fit over that one.

To shield himself from future conflict charges, Mr. Scott, who is now running to unseat the incumbent senator Bill Nelson, created a $73.8 million investment account that he called a blind trust. But an examination of Mr. Scott’s finances shows that his trust has been blind in name only. There have been numerous ways for him to have knowledge about his holdings: Among other things, he transferred many assets to his wife and neither “blinded” nor disclosed them. And their investments have included corporations, partnerships and funds that stood to benefit from his administration’s actions.

Only in late July, when compelled by ethics rules for Senate candidates, did Mr. Scott disclose his wife’s holdings. That report revealed that his wife, Ann Scott, an interior decorator by trade, controlled accounts that might exceed the value of her husband’s. Their equity investments largely mirrored each other, meaning that Mr. Scott could, if he wanted, track his own holdings by following his wife’s.

The filing revealed that the Scotts together were worth between $254.3 million and $510 million. (The Senate requires that assets be valued only in ranges.) They own a beachfront mansion in Naples, Fla., valued at $14.1 million (along with a $147,000 boathouse) and a Montana residence on 61 acres worth $1.5 million. The governor, who has banked more than $200 million in investment income while in office, forgoes his $130,000 state salary and jets across Florida in his own plane.

If he wins a tight race for the Florida seat, which is central to control of the Senate, Mr. Scott could well become the richest member of the next Congress. His broad menu of investments might regularly present conflicts that require recusal. He has declined to say whether he would use a blind trust in the Senate, where the rules controlling them are far more stringent.

Don't feel bad. You can't find an elected Republican in Mississippi who's not crooked as a dog's hind leg either.

To shield himself from future conflict charges, Mr. Scott, who is now running to unseat the incumbent senator Bill Nelson, created a $73.8 million investment account that he called a blind trust. But an examination of Mr. Scott’s finances shows that his trust has been blind in name only. There have been numerous ways for him to have knowledge about his holdings: Among other things, he transferred many assets to his wife and neither “blinded” nor disclosed them. And their investments have included corporations, partnerships and funds that stood to benefit from his administration’s actions.

Only in late July, when compelled by ethics rules for Senate candidates, did Mr. Scott disclose his wife’s holdings. That report revealed that his wife, Ann Scott, an interior decorator by trade, controlled accounts that might exceed the value of her husband’s. Their equity investments largely mirrored each other, meaning that Mr. Scott could, if he wanted, track his own holdings by following his wife’s.

The filing revealed that the Scotts together were worth between $254.3 million and $510 million. (The Senate requires that assets be valued only in ranges.) They own a beachfront mansion in Naples, Fla., valued at $14.1 million (along with a $147,000 boathouse) and a Montana residence on 61 acres worth $1.5 million. The governor, who has banked more than $200 million in investment income while in office, forgoes his $130,000 state salary and jets across Florida in his own plane.

If he wins a tight race for the Florida seat, which is central to control of the Senate, Mr. Scott could well become the richest member of the next Congress. His broad menu of investments might regularly present conflicts that require recusal. He has declined to say whether he would use a blind trust in the Senate, where the rules controlling them are far more stringent.

Don't feel bad. You can't find an elected Republican in Mississippi who's not crooked as a dog's hind leg either.

Mississippi and Florida, my two favorite forum states. Thank God I never had to set foot in either shithole.

______Just looking at your little crybaby logo there. Don't you think that it's time to change it? Rosenstein told the New York Times that there was a massive Russian effort to interfere in our election. Sounds like it's not a lie after all. I just don't want you to be embarrassed.

______Just looking at your little crybaby logo there. Don't you think that it's time to change it? Rosenstein told the New York Times that there was a massive Russian effort to interfere in our election. Sounds like it's not a lie after all. I just don't want you to be embarrassed.

There was certainly collusion. By hillary and the dnc to gather and distribute russian counterintelligence.

______Just looking at your little crybaby logo there. Don't you think that it's time to change it? Rosenstein told the New York Times that there was a massive Russian effort to interfere in our election. Sounds like it's not a lie after all. I just don't want you to be embarrassed.

In a strange moment of the Florida Governor’s Race on CNN Sunday, Rep. Ron DeSantis pivoted to talk about Israel when he was asked about President Donald Trump. It was enough to confuse his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum with the bizarre pivot that he confessed he was lost.

“Whoever wins the governorship on November 6 will have to work with the federal government and with President Trump,” CNN debate moderator Jake Tapper began. “Congressman DeSantis, you featured your children in a campaign ad in which you were encouraging them to, quote, build a wall out of toy blocks and reading a children’s story about the president saying you’re fired. Do you think President Trump is a good role model for the children of Florida?”

“My wife and I were poking a little fun at ourselves because of the way the campaign was going and I’m proud of my family though,” DeSantis began. “I don’t actually read The Art of the Deal to my son Mason. He smiles at anything but that’s not necessarily his cup of tea. Here’s what I know: You know, I was very passionate about moving our American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Andrew opposed that, a couple of months said it was a mistake and said we shouldn’t recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Every president for 25 years has promised that on the campaign trail. Once in office. They didn’t do it. Donald Trump promised it and followed through with it, so to me when you give your word and you follow through with it as an elected official, that is the model that we’re supposed to do. He was right to move the embassy to Jerusalem. I was there for an historic event. I know Andrew didn’t support that and doesn’t think that’s right but to me that was true leadership.”

“Mr. Mayor?” Tapper asked.

“I’m confused by the question,” Gillum confessed.

“The question is whether or not he thinks President Trump is a good role model for the children of Florida,” Tapper said.

“That’s what I thought. I got confused,” Gillum said.

The audience laughed.

“No, he’s not,” Gillum said and the audience laughed again. “Donald Trump — Donald Trump is weak. As all weak people do they become bullies and Mr. DeSantis is his acolyte. He’s trying out to be the Trump apprentice. He’s tweeting him and talking to him hand complimenting him. My disgust for the president and his behavior actually will have nothing to do with whether or not -— if Trump tries to send us money as President Obama tried to send to the state of Florida to build high-speed rail across I-4 corridor, and our governor said, ‘No, we don’t want that stimulus.’ If Trump tries to send me the 2.6, I’ll take it and bring it to the state of Florida and put the people of the state of Florida to work.”

DeSantis refuted the claim by Gillum saying that a governor needs to work with the president to bring money back to the state. As a fact check, DeSantis as a Congressman should have been responsible for that along with the rest of his Senate and Congressional delegation. Congress, not the president, puts together the budget.

As far as DeSantis’ accusations of Gillum’s dedication to Israel, St.Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman called the claim nonsense.